Samurai Champloo: Eternal Ties
by terraforce991
Summary: Mugen and Jin are called upon by Fuu for another adventure after six years. They must pursue a group of yakuza who kidnapped a young boy and deal with things from there past that has come back to haunt them.
1. Chapter 1

Samurai Champloo: Eternal Ties

Chapter 1: Reunion

It is a very sunny day in Edo. Mugen is burning from the heat and is starting to feel sick. "How fucking long am I suppose to wait for these two. I'm the one that's suppose to be late not them." He proceeds to walk inside a nearby resturant with a irratated look on his face.

"What would you like today, mister?" The waitress said.

"Just water!" he replied loudly out of irration.

"Umm… OK."

This is the same city where all of them met six years ago. Mugen is feeling nostalgic, which is very unusual for him. The water was to served to Mugen by the irate waitress. She had given him a look that Mugen hated. The look that someone gives you when they think they are better than you, he hated that look.

"Here's your water…" she said with a hint of attidude.

"Hmph." He replied coldly.

Mugen was sipping on the water when he heard two people walk into the resturant in back of him. The voices of a girl and man. The two people walked in front of him. It was Fuu and Jin. Emotion shot through Fuu's heart as they were reunited for the first time in six years.

"Long time no see." Jin said to them. Jin wanted to draw his sword and point it at his rival that sat in front of him, an old habit that survived the test of time.

"I'm so happy, guys. Maybe it'll be like old times, when we use to kick ass!" Fuu shouted at the top of her lungs. Everybody in the resturant was staring at her in cotempt. Jin and Mugen both shot her a glance of cotempt also. The "old times" were kind of a pain for the two swordsmen. Fuu and Jin decide to sit down and order sake.

"So Fuu, why did you send somebody to track us down and tell us to come all the way to Edo, other than the fact that you want us to be your body guards again. It's been six years." Jin asked curiously.

"I don't want you to be my bodyguards; I just want you to travel with me. What happened is that somebody stole something of mine and I want it back. The item is very important to me." She was trying to not make it seem as bad.

"Obviously if you want it back so badly. Why should we travel with you? I could be getting in bed with a woman right now." Mugen stated.

"Yeah, right. I doubt you guys got anything better to do… you guys are bums after all. Mugen, you have a huge bounty on your head and Jin you're not doing anything worth while." She retorted.

Both of them looked at each other because they knew she was right. Mugen was wanted for a recent street brawl that left a man without an arm and Jin was sitting around bored with life. One had to travel, the other wanted to travel. Might as well do it it together with Fuu.

"Fine." Jin sighed. He doesn't want to travel with his old rival and this nagging girl but oddly enough after the three of them seperated six years ago he became bored. For those six years he was just a ronin living in the street in shame. He wasn't repected. "I'll go with you."

"Fuck. I'll come. But, the only reason I'm coming is because I have to get out of Edo." Mugen said.

Fuu was on the edge of tears. She had longing to go on another adventure with these guys. Though it seemed she could care less for these two, it's the complete opposite, they had a special place in her heart. The group decides to leave the resturant with high hopes.

"Excuse me! You guys didn't pay for the sake!" the waitress shouted but, the three of them could care less.

Later that night the group rented a hotel room to sleep in for the night. They were set to leave Edo in the morning. Jin was already sleeping, Fuu was sitting ousitde and Mugen was in a bar socializing with women. They were being their usual selfs. Fuu was walking outside when four men approached her.

"Hey, baby. My friends and I might need some company tonight." One of the drunken men said.

"Then keep each other company, assholes." Fuu tried to walk away when one of the men grabbed her agressively. "Let go!" she shouted.

"Come on. Treat us nice. Stop being mean."

"HELP!" Fuu's cry was heard all around. The cry reached the bar and the hotel where Mugen and Jin were. It woke Jin from his sleep. He walked angrily out the hotel towards the scream. Mugen heard the scream loud and clear but ignored it for a minute and then decided to go check it out. The two converged at the spot at the same time.

"Looks like she got herself in trouble already. I'm not helping her, I'm not her bodyguard." Mugen said with a smirk on his face.

"I Agree." Jin said. He was still angry at how he was woken up.

"Stop looking and help me!" Fuu shouted at them.

"We're not your bodyguards, remember?" Mugen replied.

Fuu thought about what he said. They just put her in a corner. If she said that they were her bodyguards now they would want something in return. But, if she refused she could get raped right there.

"OK! You guys are my bodyguards just help me out." She accepted her fate.

"Haha. Say no more." Mugen was happy with this deal.

"Not again." Jin sighed.

In a millisecond the swordsmen drew their sword and started attacking the men. The men drew their swords too. It was a fight and it was going to get bloody. Two men tried to cut Jin legs off but he dogdged it with grace. Jin grabbed one of the men and drove him into his own ally's sword, then the fast thinking, ronin, stabbed his sword through both of them. Mugen kicked one guy in the head and slashed him across the chest. He looked like he was taking pleasure in killing this guy.

The last one alive was holding Fuu hostage with a sword to her neck. He was terrified of Jin and Mugen. They took out three of his friends in less than a minute. The man didn't know what to do. Should he kill the girl then run or should he run with the girl as his hostage?

"It's all over. Let the girl go. You saw what we did to your friends, right?" Jin was trying to reason with the man. "Let the girl go and you'll live."

"I don't believe that bullshit." The man replied with fear in his voice.

"Or I could just cut your head off!" Mugen yelled. Mugen had far less patients then Jin.

"Fine. Take your little broad." The drunken man released Fuu and then tried to run. But, before he could go anywhere Mugen decapitated him. By now people were watching on the street in shock at the gruesome situation. Police were heard shouting in the background.

"We have to leave!" Fuu said hastily.

"This is your fault." Jin said calmly

"Fuck that. I already got a bounty, let's go!" Mugen shouted. As Fuu, Jin and Mugen run they know they have just entered a new adventure.

**Authors Comment: I hope anybody who read this enjoyed the first chapter. Im planning on writing chapter 2 soon. Write a review please.**


	2. Chapter 2

Samurai Champloo: Eternal Ties

Chapter 2: Backstabber But Still A Childhood Friend

It was a long night for the trio. The Edo police was on them all night, but, they managed to get away and wandered into a small village a couple of miles outside of Edo. There was little energy left in the three so they needed food. A nearby resturant was offering dumplings that were bigger than usual dumplings for a low price. Mugens mouth watered at the delicious sight of the food.

"Empty your damn pockets you two. I want does dumplings" Mugen said excitedly. Fuu and Jin let out a sigh in unison. Together they had enough money to feed all three of them.

"All right! Time to eat!" Mugen said happily.

"Hold on. Where's your money? Nobody gonna pay for you!" Fuu was staring him down.

"I spent all the money I had on water, yesterday. I didn't have a lot either like you guys." Mugen retorted.

"Fine, you can have some of mine." Fuu said

Jin was already eating by the time these two were settling there little argument. After the dumplings were placed on their table Jin asked a question that was bugginh both him and Mugen Mugen already knew he was going to ask the question and he was in full agreement with it.

"Fuu, what was taken from you and who took it?" Jin asked. He was looking straight into her eyes to see if she was about to lie to them. Fuu knew exactly what he was doing so she decided to tell the truth.

"Umm… about that… it's acuatly a _somebody_ that got stolen from me."Fuu said while scratching her head akwardly. The vagrant and the ronin looked at her in shock. They couldn't believe she didn't tell them until now.

"What the hell, girly! I really thought _something _not _somebody_ got stolen from you. And why are you talkin like you own the person." Mugen was infuriated at the deceit.

"I didn't think you guys would want to go on a rescue mission with me. So I made a small white lie. I know how you guys are. Hehe, sorry…" Fuu was talking about it like it was a small mistake.

"Who's this person anyways? Your lover?" Mugen pondered in his usual perverted fashion.

"No, jackass! He's a 13 yr old that I took in after his mother died. Yakuza kidnapped him, to repay his fathers dept because the jerk ran away after the boys' mother died. His name is Kenshiro."

Jin and Mugen got up from the table and walked a few meters away from Fuu. It looks they were discussing whether they wanted to go through with this or not. The two of them kept looking back at her. _Damn, I really screwed up._ Fuu thought. It took them ten agonizing minutes to come to a decision.

"We'll help. We already started the trip anyways." Jin said. He looked like a master that just decided to take on a disciple, he looked wise. Mugen looked apatheric towards the whole thing but was probably genuine about it inside, Fuu thought.

"Thanks, guys. So tell me what happended with you guys in the past six years." She was really curious about their lives while they were seperated. "Mugen you should start."

Fuu was annoying Mugen today more than usual, but, he decided to tell them anyways. "Well…"

After the Mugen seperated from Fuu and Jin life returned to normal. He travelled and got into fights again and again like a repeating cycle. The vagrant even took on small time hitman jobs just to get by in his usual fashion. That was a job he loved because he got to fight and kill. It was like that for four years. Nothing interesting or eventful out of the ordinary happended, it was just kill, kill, kill.

One day after a hit he decided to visit a whore house with the money he got from his employer and the vitcim after he killed him. It was crowded and hot in there, so, he was rushing to find a good looking girl to sleep with and get out of there. Mugen was looking at his selection of women that he could have until one of them caught his eye suddenly. A girl he recongnized. She turned around and met his gaze with surprise. It was Koza.

"Which one would you like, sir? We have a nice selection, right?" the owner asked Mugen persistantly.

"I want that one." He pointed to Koza.

"Good choice, sir." Mugen handed the small man his money. The owner was very pleased with the amount he got from him.

"This way." Koza beckoned.

The two friends entered the room and sat down. It was an akward silence. The last time they saw each other was four years ago and they didn't part ways on good terms. Koza backstabed Mugen and he still hadn't forgiven her for it. She was just like her bastard brother Mukuro. Both, held the silence for what seemed like an eternity, until Mugen broke the silence.

"What are you doing working here." Koza just stared at him "Tell me!" Mugen demanded an answer. "Who did you piss off to get here?"

"You're still mad about what happened back then. I did what I had to do survive. I'm not sorry for it." She replied without the slightest hint of remorse.

"You didn't answer my question." Mugen totally ingorned her annoying statement. He felt like killing her right now. The look of her just pissed him off to no end. He's the only one from his childhood that he trusted and she just backstabs him like he was shit in the road.

"I was kidnapped and sold to this place. Mugen... I really don't feel like living anymore. My life has been one tragedy after another." She said with tears flowing form her eyes. To her life was a living hell that she couldn't escape from.

Mugen looked at the crying girl he grew up with and wondered whether she expected sympathy from him. But, because she was the on who patched him up when he was wounded as a child he decided to help her get out of this place. He atleast owed her that.

"Get up. We're leaving." Mugen ordered.

"What do you mean?" she asked

"In other words you wont have to prostitute yourself anymore." Mugen said.

There was a knock at the door a couple seconds after Mugen made this revalation to her. It was the owner of the whore house. Mugen decided not to say anything. The owner knocked again.

"Sir, your time is up with the lady. Please pack your stuff up or if you want-" the man didn't get to finish his sentence because by the time he had been ready to finish it Mugen opened the door and cut it neck with his tanto. Koza was right behind him.

The pair walked down the stairs casually as if nothing happened and tried to leave the building but they were stopped by the building hired muscle. Mugen was getting pissed that these obstacles stood in the way of his goal.

"Where the hell do you think you're going with her, buddy." A musclular man with scars on his face shouted. His lackies were staring at Mugen with murderous intent and he didn't like that. He was about to unleash his anger.

"Listen, you got five seconds to get out of my way before I cut you to pieces!" Mugen whispered in the mans ear. The man looked at Mugen like he was a fool.

"You here this guy, boys! He says we have five seconds before he kills us. You can't take all of us on." The man was getting too cocky.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1," Mugen was counting down very slowly. But, once he hit one he drew his sword and cut the muscular mans' arm off and then cut down his lackies in less than ten second.

"Mugen, lets go! I know a place to go to." Koza shouted. The two of them ran out of town. They went to a great big waterfall in the middle of the woods that seemed safe enough.

There was a weird feeling that Mugen had it's as if his anger for Koza disappeared in a blink of a eye. Forgiveness, that's the feeling Mugen was experiencing, a first time feeling for him. He turned to look at Koza who was just staring at the waterfall blankly. The water fall reminded the two of them of the beach on the island they came from. He knew he couldn't go back to the town after killing people in oublic. It was time for him to go to a new town.

"Bye, Koza. Stay out of trouble." Mugen stated. She stared at him. Not wanting him to leave her. She wanted to be by his side forever.

"Don't leave me! I want to be with you." She shouted.

"I already told you last time, I'm not the type of man for that. I already repayed you for saving me when we were younger. You could survive on your own. " Mugen said quietly

"I can't live by myself." She said crying.

Mugen glanced at her and started walking away. He couldn't take her with him because of the way he made a living. It would be way too dangerous for her to stay with him. She would just be weight on his shoulders. As Mugen was walking away he heard foot steps quickly approaching him. He turned around to see Koza swing a knife at his jugular, a swing that he barely dogded. He quickly drew his sword and cut her down. Blood flew everywhere as Koza fell to the ground gasping for air. Mugen was shocked at what he had just done.

"Thank you, Mugen. I can't stand this hell called life. Maybe we can meet again in the afterlife." Koza said with her dying breath. Kozas' eyes closed slowly as her vision blurred then she was no longer breathing. She attacked Mugen knowing she was going to get killed.

Mugen spent the next hours digging a grave and burying Koza. As Mugen walked away from the grave he reminisced about his childhood on a dog-eat-dog island. The next two years Mugen wandered and took jobs just like the first four years. To this day he still wonders if live was really that much of a hell for Koza and if he could've saved her from it.

Jin and Fuu stared at Mugen as he concluded what had happended to him during does six years. Fuu actually felt kind of bad for telling him to share what had happened to him. It was a silent. The three had an solemn feeling. Fuu decided to break the ice in a cheerful voice.

"Umm… so what about you Jin?" Fuu said to break the solemm atmosphere.

**Authors comment: Well, here's chapter 2. I hope you guys enjoyed it. the next chapter will be about what happened to Jin during the six year time gap. Constructive critism will be appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

Samurai Champloo: Eternal Ties

Chapter 3: Love and Lost

It was a quiet night, cicadas were chirping all around and the wind was rustling the leaves. Jin felt at peace but very lonely. It's been three weeks since Jin, Fuu and Mugen went there separate ways and it's safe to say he that he missed them, the only people he could call friends. It has been three weeks since the trio's separation, Jin has been traveling back to the enkiri dera that he sent Shino too, the woman who he saved not too long ago from a life of misery in a brothel. The love he felt for this woman was too immense to put into words. He could only describe it as instant happiness when he thought of her. As he decided to lay down on the ground he looked at the bright, white, moon with a smile on his face, slowly falling asleep. By this time tomorrow he should be able to see her again.

The next morning Jin woke up to the orange sun rise, He packed and headed towards the enkiri dera that was only a few hours away. The hours went by very slowly for him, probably because he had to travel across hills and rough terrain to get to his destination. Also, it was probably the sheer anticipation of seeing Shino again. As he finally approached the town he saw the enkiri dera, it was surrounded by a hazy fog just like the last time he had seen it. All that separated him from that building was water. But, when he looked around there wasn't a boat in sight. He decided to be patient and wait for two hours or so until a boat arrived, but to no avail. _It's time to swim_. He put his feet into the water to measure how strong the current was and to his surprise it wasn't as strong as he thought it would be. Any adult could swim across. Jin took out his katana and tanto to tie around his shoulder with two pieces of rope. He couldn't afford for them to be accidentally swept away by the current of the river. The stereotypical warrior always valued his weapon, Jin enforced that stereotype ten times over.

The man charged into the lake with strong resolve. He was moving as quick as he can, as if his life depended on these next three minutes. When he finally reached the shore he was dripping wet like he had just walked through a hurricane. He didn't care though he was just happy to feel the same ground where his love had waited for him. Jin slowly approached the doors, making each step count. _Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. _His heart was racing. His heart hasn't felt like this since his life changing dual with his master all those years ago. Before he even got to the door it opened. To the front of him was a elderly monk with a kind smile.

"`What brings you to this temple, young man?" The monk said in a low voice.

"Hello, sir. My name is Jin. I have come to see Shino." He politely replied.

"Are you the man that sent her here?" he questioned.

"Yes."

"Well come in then. My name Shigeru, I'm the abbot of this temple." Shigeru had changed his tone quickly, from a low commanding voice to a cheerful elderly man.

"Thank you!" Jin was ecstatic.

The inside of the temple was big and grand with painting of the former abbot's on one section of the wall and under the paintings was a life size statue of Buddha. There was monks and women all around. Jin was scanning the large crowd for Shino when suddenly a strong force pushed him forwards. The person had a strong grip around his chest. The unknown person came around to the front of Jin… it was Shino. The ronin was speechless. It was silence between the two of them for what seemed like a century until Jin broke the silence.

"I've come to bring you back with me." Jin said with an uncharacteristic clownish grin on his face.

"I have to ask the abbot's permission first. Don't you remember I have to be here for two more years." Shino said worryingly. They both turned their head to look at Abbot Shigeru. He gazed at them for 10, long seconds. During those ten seconds every thought imaginable was running through the couple's head.

"You could leave the temple, you have my blessings. I could see that you're sincere and genuine, Jin. I trust you'll take care of Shino." Shigeru then walked away from the couple wishing them the best of luck in their future together. Jin simply bowed to thank the elder.

Shino immediately packed her belongings and said her teary farewells to all the companions she has made throughout her stay at the enkiri dera. The temple gave them a little boat to swim across so they didn't have to swim.

"Jin, what will we do now?" The pale skinned Shino asked.

"Anything you want." Jin told her.

"Well, lets have a traveling restaurant. I've always wanted to travel and see the cities, hills, forests. This place is the only place I know… and frankly I don't ever want to see this place again."

For the next four years the two of them travelled around the country, from Osaka to Edo, even the dangerous Ryukyu Islands. They heard many stories from customers of the travelling restaurant and also witnessed many things ranging from joyous events such as marriages to horrible things like the persecution of Christians. But, in the end the two still pushed on with their journey. The travelling restaurant became quite popular throughout the country. Money was flowing in quickly.

After those four wonderful years Shino became pregnant and the two came across a nice town, where they decided to live forever. Also, Jin had saved up enough money to start a decent sized dojo to pass on the martial art his very own master taught him. The dojo flourished, Shino had a baby girl, Eri, and Jin was being recognized as one of the best swordsman in all of Japan.

Another two years passed by, things were still going strong. By this time little Eri was walking, talking and play sparring with her father. Shino and Jin both thought she would be a great swordsman when she grew older, but, Shino found it not lady like for Eri to use a sword so she banned her from learning. But, Jin didn't care he still taught her anyways, he didn't plan on having another child so he wanted to pass the art down the family line whether the heir be boy or girl.

One rainy night Jin had woken up to the noise of a sliding door being shut quietly. He unsheathed his tanto ever so slightly than quickly turned onto his side. Shino wasn't next to him. It must've been her that left the room.

"Why am I so worried for? She must've gone to use the bathroom or check on Eri." Jin mumbled to himself. It took less than a minute for him to go back to his dream state.

A couple of hours later Jin himself woke up to use the bathroom when he realized Shino still wasn't next to him. This time he put his katana into his sash and searched the house in order to find Shino. He checked in Eri's room, Shino wasn't there only Eri was there sound asleep. Next, came the dojo, she was nowhere to be found. Then it was the whole house. By this time Jin had already checked his home for signs of intrusion, but there is no way somebody could've been walking around without him noticing or hearing something. The only person that was walking around was Shino. She must've left the house. Jin feared for her safety.

"Why would she leave this late. It's near three in the morning."

The slim, pale skinned man was running around town like a mad man looking for his woman. She definitely wasn't in town. Everything had already shut down, the town was asleep. Jin then decides to check the nearby woods. It was dark and he could barely see anything but he could always tell when somebody was near him. He suddenly started getting that same feeling. He heard noises. It was voices… one female. It was Shino's voice! But, the other… it was… it was… a man!? The two voices were coming from the nearby cliff that overlooked a blue ocean. Jin carefully approached the cliff but stayed in at the edge of the wood. While he was doing that the two of them suddenly stopped talking. Jin thought they had been alerted to his presence. No! When Jin saw what was happening his heart sank. There sat Shino and the man Jin heard, kissing deeply and passionately.

"What the fuck… what the fuck… what the fuck." Jin mumbled to himself. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets because of the shocking scene. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to, but, he knew he had to. _What did I do wrong to deserve this? I treated her right. Right? I gave her everything she wanted. Why!? _He thought to himself in silence. Then he saw something that pushed him over the edge. Shino's lover started to undress her! In a moments notice shock had turned into uncontrollable rage.

"Fuck. FUCK! Arrggggghhhh!" Jin had drew his katana and charged at the two with the speed of a bullet. Shino saw it coming and got out of the way. Her lover wasn't so lucky though. Jin had cut the arm he used to undress Shino off. Blood spurted in every direction. Jin didn't give the man time to shout in agony. He had already dropped his katana and had his hands around the mans throat, strangling the life out of him. This was personal. Within a minute his gasping fell silent. Jin then picked up his katana and beheaded the body. It was a bloody mess. Jin turned to Shino with tears rolling down his face. His eyes were blank. Both their pale skins were stained with blood, she was no longer beautiful. Shino was too shocked to scream, she'd been caught. Jin slowly approached her with each step she backed up just as much.

"You whore! ARE YOU READY TO DIE!" Jin shouted. This was a side nobody had ever seen of Jin. He sounded evil, pure evil. This situation blacked him out and the regular Jin was gone.

"Jin, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Shino was hysterical. She thought she was going to end up like her lover.

Suddenly Jin stopped walking towards her. Her voice had brought him back to his senses. The bloodied man saw the fear in her eyes. Jin felt shameful. He was about to slaughter the woman he loved so dearly. The dead man only laying a few feet away from him could matter less, but, Shino was different. Jin turned around, pushed the dead body off the cliff and he watched the ocean turn red. No one would ever know what happened to him.

"Why would you do this?" Jin asked. "Why?" Shino stayed silent for a few minutes. She then gave her reason.

"I don't love you anymore…" She said calmly. The air was rustling the leaves, toads were sounding everywhere and the full moon was out shining in all its glory. How ironic. It's such a beautiful night yet ugly things are going on in its presence. Jin turned around and left without another word.

Shino returned back to the house in the morning. The two of them refused to talk to each other and slept in different places. There relationship was beyond repair. Nobody could save it now, not even divine intervention. This silence went on for two hellish days. On the second day Shino told Jin that she would be leaving to friends place the next night and she'll be back to see Eri every couple of days.

The next night, Jin and his star pupil, Akio, went drinking. Jin needed a way to drown his sorrow. Sake was his answer. Jin didn't drink as much as he used to so his tolerance was really low. He became intoxicated quickly. So much stress was relieved, once he knew he was drunk. He ordered two bottles of sake and couldn't even stand after the second one. Akio was worried abouthis master.. Jin had already told him what happened in his drunken state. Jin ordered a third bottle of sake and chugged the whole thing. To say the least, he was wasted.

"Ok, master you're too drunk. I know you're feeling really bad right now but it's time to bring you home. It's my duty to watch out for my master." Akio said this even though he had a few drinks himself.

"Suuuuurrrrreee!" Jin tended to elongate his words when he was drunk.

When he returned home Jin fell right on the ground and passed out. He didn't even bother to check if Shino or Eri was there. Jin awoke in the early evening the next day. He had a vicious hangover and wanted to go back to sleep. _I wonder if Eri is awake._ Instead of going back to sleep he decided to check on his little girl. When he got to her room he found all her belongings gone and Eri missing.

"No way! I know Shino didn't do what I think she did." Jin feared the worst. He turned the house upside down while shouting "Eri!" but she was gone. Shino kidnapped Eri! Jin Immediately packed his things to set out on the trail of Shino. But, first he went to his pupils' house to tell him the dojo was in his hands temporarily.

For the next six months Jin travelled in search of his daughter. Town after town, city after city, village after village, he couldn't find them. Day after day anger grew in Jin it was hard to not lash out on people over small thing such as a stare. In short, Jin became a bitter man on his search. Jin decided to stop at a restaurant in Osaka and eat dumpling. To him all hope was already lost of finding his daughter until he heard talk of from a man that slept with a pale skin lady and the lady had a little girl no more than three with her.

Jin walked promptly to the man "Where did the woman go?" he asked excitedly.

"She said she was going to go on a ship to one of those European nations because somebody was looking for her. Are you that person?" the man got up.

"Yes. Are you planning to get in my way?" Jin shot a cold stare at the man. Nothing was going to come between him and his daughter. The man realized Jin was nobody to be trifled with and decided it was smart to take a seat.

Jin dashed out of the restaurant and down to dock in the painfully hot sun. When he got there he asked around to find out which ship was heading for Europe. A young boy told him it already left. He pointed to the distance the ship was half a football field away. Jin looked at the deck of the ship to see Shino and Eri staring down at him. Jin's head started spinning, it was too late.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy I want to go to Daddy!" Eri pleas were futile. Eri shouts pierced Jin's body like a spear, he fell to his knees and started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Daddy says he want to stay in Japan, sorry Eri." The evil Shino said in a deceivingly kind voice.

Within five minutes the ship had already reached the clear horizon and was out of sight. Jin was on his knees for another thirty minutes sobbing. After that he decided to get up and return home to the dojo and his students, the last few people he had left.

It took him three weeks to return to the town and when he got there tragedy struck again. The dojo was gone. It was burned down. The charred pieces of wood seemed to laugh in his face. How did it burn down is what Jin wanted to know. Once the town realized the young master was back they all crowded around the area where the dojo once stood and gave Jin sympathetic looks.

"What happened!?" Jin roared. Every body was shocked to hear his loud tone.

A ronin like himself walked up to him and told him the full story. "There were atrocities being committed by the Shogunate. They came to the town to purge out the Christians. Your student, Akio was one of the Christians. He was about to be publicly executed when your other entire students charged at the executioner and killed him. They retreated to the dojo. That's when the Shogunate set fire to the dojo. The students ran out to try and fight the shogun and all were killed."

At this point Jin just was depressed and defeated. When Jin didn't reply to the story, all the town people offered there condolences to Jin and dispersed. He wanted to die. Jin got on his knees and pulled out his tanto and opened up his kimono exposing his mid section. _Hara-kiri. I never thought it would end like this. _As soon Jin was going to drive the tanto into his belly he noticed a burnt letter addressed to him. It was burnt but readable. He put the tanto down and read it. It was from Fuu. She wanted him to come to Edo. Jin silently reconsidered his suicide and thought that with Fuu wanting him to come to Edo he could start over again.

"Wow. Are you telling me this girl saved your life?" Mugen was so surprised at the revelation.

"Indirectly." Jin replied

"I'm so sorry, Jin." Fuu's eyes were tearing up from Jin story. She was really starting to regret asking these two about the past six years.

"So what about you, Fuu?" Jin and Mugen asked the tearful Fuu in unison.

**Authors Comment: Wow. I think I made this chapter kinda dark and tragic. The next chapter is going to be about Fuu during the six year gap. Reviews are appreciated. **


	4. Chapter 4

Samurai Champloo: Eternal Ties

Chapter 4:Joy, Tragedy, Family

The sun was strong and scorching as it hit the surface of the Edo road. Its only been One year since Fuu separated from Mugen and Jin, and to say the least, she was was doing quite well for herself. The shop she was running sold dumpling and vegetables and was one of the most popular shops in the area so naturally business was booming. "Homeless" was a word that didn't relate to her in any way anymore. Best of all the area was among the safest in Edo, so trouble was rare for her. Now all she needed was a boyfriend and her life would be complete. Contemplating about her past year brought on a grin that went from ear to ear. Her day was going to start in an hour. _Time for another wonderful day._ She thought to herself. The young girl went about the usual morning routine of eating breakfast, brushing her hair and setting up her shop for the day.

The day had been going normal and smooth. The customers were paying and the food had been good. Then, out of nowhere loud crashes were heard outside her shop. Fuu dismissed it until the crashes got louder and she couldn't ignore the disturbance, after all, it was going to scare away her customers. Fuu was getting ready to go out there when one of her frequent customers, Yumi, came in a hurry.

"Fuu! There are two people getting beat up outside. It looks like a bunch of yakuza are the ones causing trouble. I felt like saying something since it's happening right outside the shop, but, those people are…" Yumi said it a fearful voice.

"Don't worry about it. I'm the owner. That means I should be the one to say something to those thugs." Fuu stated bravely. The petite girl walked out through the front door a soldier like valor about her. The scene outside was a shocking and bloody one. A girl laying on the ground bruised and bloodied, a man who was fighting off her attackers by himself even though he was clearly losing the struggle and a stunned audience. Before long the man found himself on dirt getting kicked and stomped by 5 men. At this rate he was going to die. "Hey, boneheads!" Fuu shouted in her loudest voice. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing to these two in front of my shop. You're going to scare away my customers you assholes!"

Suddenly the whole crowd that had been looking at the beatdown shifted there attention to the teenage girl. It seemed like everything that had life had been looking at the girl with a sympathetic look. Fuu just crossed a group of yakuza and everybody knew that surely meant she was going to suffer from repercussions. Yakuza never took disrespect lightly, especially the young ones looking to make a name for themselves, which is exactly what these guys were.

"This bitch..." one of the thugs whispered aggressively, "You think you can barge out here, insult and make a fool out of us!" The man was flashing his knife to scare the girl. Fuu had been in more scary situations then most people will see in their lifetime so naturally this tactic didn't phase her one bit.

"Come on! I want you to stab me. You wouldn't do it in front of all these witnesses. By the time the sun sets you guys would've already been executed by the authorities." The teenager held her ground against 5 men more than twice her size.

The 5 thugs glanced at each other for a quick second. They all knew what this girl was saying held undeniable truth. Knives were quickly put away and hidden in their clothes so there wouldn't be any trouble from the authorities of Edo. The group would have to get pay her back another time.

"We'll be back in due time, fool. The same thing goes for these two maggots on the ground." One of them said. The group walked off without shame of there defeat.

A nice feeling of relief was felt among all the people there. The young group of yakuza had been dismissed and two lives were saved, at least for now. All of sudden the crowd of spectators were no longer silent, you could feel happiness being spread around like the plague. Energetic, enthusiastic, loud cheers started coming from all around. The crowd was in an uproar and they were praising teen for being the one to stand up to the yakuza. The next thing you knew Fuu was crowd surfing and being thrown up in the air again and again for her good deed. It was like she was some sort of messiah. _Best day ever._ She thought happily to herself. After letting her down young and old offered her gifts and free food. All of which Fuu declined.

Later during the day, when everything had quieted down considerably and the shop was getting ready to close did two people walk in. Fuu didn't really notice them until they were about two feet from her.

"Um, excuse me." A quiet female voice said.

Fuu turned around and faced the pair. It didn't take her very long to recognize that these two were the ones getting beat up earlier. Fuu didn't utter a word all she could do was smile.

"Thank you. You saved our lives today. We're forever in your dept. My name is Kiyoshi Nara. This is my wife Akane Nara." The bruised man with a badly swollen face bowed respectively with his bruised wife.

"We have a favor to ask of you, will you please come to our home for tea. It's the least we can do." Akane said while still bowing.

"Sure, I'm about to close down the shop anyways. Also, you guys don't have to bow to me. What I did was something anybody should have done." Fuu declared.

She quickly closed the shop and started the journey to the house of the couple. It was a long walk, about an hour and it soon became obvious that these two lived in the poorer, more dangerous section of Edo. Being here brought back memories of being on the road and being dirt poor. It was bittersweet. She missed being on the move all the time, seeing the different parts of the country and being with her two companions. But, at the same time she didn't want to go back to being dirt poor, not eating for days on end and begging for money. No, never again.

As the group approached the home of the two, their sliding door opened. A little boy came darting out towards Akane. He jumped in her arms and was laughing with great joy at the sight of her.

"Mom, Dad, welcome back! I missed you guys. Hmm. What happened to your faces?" The little boy asked.

"An accident happened. Say hi to… umm…" Akane said embarrassed.

"Oh! I didn't tell you my name yet. It's Fuu Kasami." Fuu replied equally as embarrassed. How could she forget to tell them her name after all that happened today.

"Hi. My name is Kenshiro Nara. I'm 8 years old and I'm going to be a samurai just like Miyamoto Musashi." He said this with all the confidence in the world.

"Nice to meet you, Kenshiro." She returned the courtesy with delight.

The inside of the home was your average run of the mill home in Edo. Two small rooms in a cramp home. One for cooking and the other one is where everybody sleeps. They all took a seat waited for the tea to boil. While waiting Akane explained what provoked the brawl between Kiyoshi and the thugs. Apparently, the yakuza were in need of money. So what do they do? Kidnap women to from their homes to sell as sex slaves, servants, etc. Well, this is what happened to Akane. Kiyoshi happened to catch wind of what happened and went to look for her immediately. Meanwhile, Akane was resisting the five men which led to her getting beaten. Kiyoshi saw this happening and went to fight them and lost. Then, Fuu intervened.

"I would never let them take her. It's already hard enough to make a living with just the both of us. I don't what I would do Akane left." Kiyoshi was thinking of the outcome if such a situation was to arise.

"In fact I was fired today because of the incident. There's no way we can make enough money now." Akane had tears streaming out of her eyes.

By now the tea had already been served and everybody was drinking all the while they were thinking about the hopeless situation. Half the familys income was gone. All because of one incident that wasn't their fault to begin with. _What a fucked up world… _Fuu was becoming restless.

"Akane, how about you work at my shop? This way you can guys can have a bit of money. I have a lot of customers too. That means higher pay since I am the only one that works there. You can start as tomorrow, if you like. You'll be a waitress." Fuu didn't have a second thought about throwing the deal on the table. She felt really sympathetic for the Nara family. They reminded her of the times when she was struggling when her mother was still around.

"I accept, thank you." Akane was about to bow but then she remembered that Fuu said she didn't have to do that when it came to her. _What a kind person. _Akane was so grateful that she had met this girl.

"Yay!" Kenshiro shouted. "We'll be rich now." Everybody looked at Kenshiro and then each other. At once they all started laughing at the now light-hearted situation while Kenshiro was left wondering, "What are they laughing at?" The start of a good friendship was born.

Five years passed and it was a relatively quiet five years. Fuu and Akane became good friends if not best friends. Both of them even starting calling each other "Sister" This showed time and time again when the two would get into deep trouble with each other. Either Fuu would save Akane or Akane would save Fuu. They were similar in that way. Trouble was their name. Sometimes, Kiyoshi would joke if they didn't have each other both would've died a long time ago. Every time he said that they would both look at each other and laugh because it was probably true. It was like they were family. It was like the Nara's decided to take in Fuu and fill a void in her heart.

One day, out of the blue, Kenshiro ran into the shop crying his eyes out. All the customers stared at the little boy as Yumi tried to consol Kenshiro. But, he wouldn't stop crying and he kept calling for Fuu. Yumi looked around and saw that other people were growing tired of Kenshiro nonstop crying. Yumi went to the back to look for Fuu. She had to go to three rooms to finally find her.

"Fuu! There's a boy crying and he keeps calling for you. Frankly, it's getting annoying since he won't shut up." Yumi was obviously frustrated.

"Hmm. Am I that important. Haha. I'll be right there." Fuu stopped everything she was doing and went to find the kid whose been crying her name.

Once Kenshiro was in plain view of Fuu her demeanor changed drastically. She went from laid back to dead serious. Kenshiro never cried. That's too unusual for her to be laid back about it. If him out of all people are crying that's means something serious must have happened. A cloud came over Fuu and she became nauseous. Everybody was waiting for her to do something about Kenshiro. Fuu quickly grabbed him brought him to the back of the shop. He was still crying.

"Kenshiro, what happened? Why are you crying?" Fuu questioned.

"Mom is dead!" he came right out with it.

"What!?" Fuu screamed.

"Don't make me repeat it…"

Fuu was too shocked to cry. Akane was gone. The lady who had been like a big sister to her these past five years was gone. _No! No! _Fuu mind was racing she couldn't think straight. She shut out everything for what seemed like an eternity. Every noise, every color, everything. All the good times they had together begun flashing before her eyes. _Sis._

Within ten minutes of receiving the news of Akane death, Fuu closed the shop for the day and started the long walk to the Nara with Kenshiro. Neither, Kenshiro or Fuu said a word for that whole work. It was still shocking. How could she just go like that?

Fuu found it ironic how it had been such a beautiful day. The flowers were starting to pollinate, the leaves on the trees were growing, and the grass was becoming green. All seemed well. Everybody else was going about there day, when such a wonderful person just died. Fuu soon became angry. Even though she knew it was unreasonable, she felt like people should care that Akane just died even though most of them didn't know her. Fuu looked behind her to see Kenshiro behind several feet behind her. He looked like a ghost. Pale, dried tears, emotionless, this was Kenshiro. Fuu waited for him to catch up and grabbed his hand. She had to stay positive for the young boy.

The two finally reached the house after two hours. It usually took one hour but, nobody was in a rush to see Akane. They both entered the room where the Nara's slept and saw Akane laying there. Kiyoshi was against the wall. His were eyes bloodshot red from crying all day. Fuu couldn't utter a word. Reality finally hit her. She was gone. She walked slowly towards the body of her "sister" and sat down. She looked so beautiful and young. Fuu tried to touch Akane face… she couldn't. She was too cold, not warm like the Akane she knew.

"Kiyo… shi. What happened?" Fuu was choking up now. She tried her best to hold back the tsunami of tears that needed to released.

"Cancer…" that's all he could say, "Cancer."

"Mom! Mom!" Kenshiro started crying again. It seems like this tragedy was too much for him to handle. But, what could anybody expect. He just lost his mother and will have to grow up without her by his side.

Fuu couldn't believe that something like cancer killed Akane. Akane was so vibrant and survived many life and death situations only to be taken out by cancer. This situation also made the girl awfully aware of her own mortality. She really should've been dead right now. But, somehow she managed to live through all the shit that has happened. As far as she knew the same thing could happen to her and there was nothing she could do about a disease that she couldn't physically confront. Kiyoshi decided it was time for him to remove himself and Kenshiro from the room. He couldn't stand to look at his late wife any longer.

"Are you coming?" Kiyoshi beckoned.

"No. I need some time alone with her right now."

"All right."

Memories were going through Fuus' head and it was so emotionally painful for her. The only death that measured up to this was her own mothers'. That only happened eight or so years ago. She remembered how stunned she was when her mother passed away. Even though her mother was bedridden for awhile before that, so it was to be expected. However this was In some ways worse than the death of her mother.

Fuu left the room to talk to Kiyoshi. His eyes went back to their normal color and he seemed to have accepted the fact that his wife was gone and that all he could do was honor her memory. Fuu stared at him intently for a second. He definitely was calm. Kiyoshi turned his head after he finally noticed Fuu staring.

" The funeral is tonight at sundown. Will you be there? If you're going, I'm assuming your going back to your place for some things?" Kiyoshi said in his regular voice. By the way he was talking you really couldn't tell that anything just happened.

"Of course I'm going to the funeral. I'll be back." Fuu responded.

Later when sundown began, as the sun was bright orange Kiyoshi lit a huge pile of stick and branches by a nearby temple. The organized pile started to become bigger. Slowly, it started covering Akane from sight. Soon the smell of burning fleshed filled the air. A smell everyone grimaced at. Within in 2 hours the fire had died down and there was nothing left but black suet and ashes. The world had fallen asleep and all was quiet. No words were exchanged between the three. In fact Kenshiro had fallen asleep within an hour after the cremation began. As a result, it was just Fuu and Kiyoshi sitting awake in the darkness.

"Kiyoshi , you if there's anything I can do for you, I will. I'll help pay for your bills and food." Fuu said seriously. She knew Akane would've appreciated this greatly. It was the least she could do.

Kiyoshi slowly looked at Fuu. Personally, he didn't want any help from the young girl. He knew that was a huge burden for her, plus, she already had enough on her plate already with the store. But, Kiyoshi knew it was the right choice to accept her help. He had to swallow his pride as man and do what's right for his son. He looked at the clear night sky. The stars were shining brilliantly, the moon lit up the world. A seemingly perfect night.

"Thanks. I would appreciate your help a lot. But, don't stress over us. OK? I guess it's time for me to take my leave. This kid is obviously tired."

Fuu thought the same thing. It was suprising that the smell of burnig flesh didn't rouse him from his deep slumber. She was actually starting to fall asleep herself. _What a long day._ Tomorrow she will have to go back to work like usual. By now people knew that Akane passed, but some didn't. So that means Fuu was more than likely going to have to explain over and over again why Akane wasn't at work. What a pain in the ass. How many days will people ask for her? How many days will she have to explain that one of her best friends is dead? No one knew the answer. All she knew was that she was tired, depressed and feeling very nostalgic, so she would deal with all those problems when she they came up.

The next couple of weeks were hectic. Between taking care of the shop and helping out the Nara's, Fuu had no time to herself and was usually tired by the end of the day. Also, she was in the process of saving money to open a new shop. That made money all the more precious. People told her that she should calm down and take a break from everything. But, she felt like if she did that it would just make her extremely lazy and make her hate her job and lifestyle. Thus, losing everything that supports her livelihood. There was also the plan of getting a new employee at the shop. Since, Akanes' death, Fuu has been working in the shop all alone which was damn near impossible for anyone. Someone needed to take some of the load of her shoulders. Though, she didn't like the idea of somebody taking Akanes' spot, it was completely necessary for someone else to be there. It was time to move on. Next thing you know a sign was up saying "You want a job? Come by after the shop is closed" people come because they knew they would get payed on time. Unlike the other jobs when you're pretty much a slave to your employer who constantly screws you over for your paycheck. Soon enough Fuu had to grant one day out of the week just for interviews. Out of all the applicants for the job only one caught her eye. Yumi. The woman of about 30 years old, who was a constant customer of the establishment. Fuu never realized how energetic and enthusiastic Yumi was about working. Yumi was somebody perfect for the job.

"Yumi, the job is yours!" Fuu said smiling. She was just happy that the interviews were over and she could finally get much needed rest. It was the beginning of the night and she never works this late.

"Thanks. You don't know how long I wanted to work here. I'll be here bright and early tomorrow morning." She was estactic about this opprutunity. Fuu had a feeling that after a couple of weeks, though she will feel like quitting. Hopefully not.

After the interview, she packed fresh food and started her hour walk to the home of the Nara's. The trail that was all too familiar to her now, was littered with drunkards and prostitutes. The typical rich people and gangsters that thought they ruled over the world and could have any woman they wanted. Fuu looked inside every bar and would just shake her head at the sight. Edo in the night was a pretty amazing place to walk around at despite all that. There was Edo Castle and the Nihonbashi. A giant bridge made out of wood. It was a very popular tourist site and events were regularly held there.

Fuu opened the sliding door to the house. Kenshiro was standing there throwing punches and kicks. It seemed like a martial art. He stopped practicing when he noticed that she was at the door looking at him. His face turned red because he knew the way he was throwing the punches were beyond sloppy. Any martial art master would've strictly disiciplined the teen if they saw such garbage. He quickly walked to her and looked at her in an odd way. _Wow, I never noticed how cute she is. _She noticed the way Kenshiro was looking at her and thought that something must've been wrong with her appearance. Fuu glanced at the mirror to the right of her to see if there was any thing out of the ordinary, but to her surprise everything was fine.

"Umm… Is everything ok? You seem a bit zoned out."

"Uh. Yes! Welcome back! Im just a bit tired right from practicing. How are you?"

"The usual. I'm just coming by to eat with you guys. We all know you two can't cook to save your lives. I hired a new employee at the shop. It took awhile to find somebody suitable for the job." Fuu was hesitant to tell him this. She didn't want him to think he was replacing his mother.

"You did? About time you had somebody to help you." Kenshiro said. He noticed Fuu had a surprised look. _Did she think I was going to take offense_ "By the way, you really don't have to keep bringing food everyday. We can manage with everything now."

Just then Kiyoshi walked in. He smiling like he won the lottery. The food. It was the food that was causing him to smile. He hasn't eaten all day. All three bowed to each other swiftly, then, rushed to the living area to eat.

"Itadakimasu" all said in unison. If there was one thing all of them had in common was there love for food especially on an empty stomach.

All of them ate quietly. Too involved with their food to say a word. At the same time, though, thoughts were running through Kiyoshi's head. Today he planned on telling Fuu that he didn't want her to come to the house anymore. Not because he disliked the girl. But, because he had found a way to provide for himself. It was already making him tons of money. Soon enough he would be able to purchase a new home without having somebody else hand him money. The quietness was broken when Kenshiro excused himself and announced he was going to sleep for the night. A few minutes succeeding Kenshiro's departure Kiyoshi decided it was a good time to tell Fuu to lay off. Of course, he wasn't going to say it like that though.

"OK. I'm going to be forward with you." Kiyoshi had a serious look on his face. "Fuu, I don't want you helping us in any sort of way anymore."

She turned her head to look at him to see if he was serious. He was. " Why?" Fuus' face was expressionless now.

"Because I have a well paying job, it's good enough that I could support myself and Kenshiro. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate what you've done for us, but, I'm a grown man. A grown man needs to learn to take care of his responsibilities. I'm not saying you can't visit either, I'm just saying let me take care of myself!" Kiyoshi pleaded.

"Huh… ok. I believe in you. Just don't do anything stupid. Anyways, I think it's time to take my leave for the night. I'll see you later." Fuu agreed to let the man take of himself. Still, even though she said she believed in him there was still a feeling of doubt running across her mind.

One month has passed since Fuu visited the Nara's, they really didn't cross her mind that much. Actually, it was rare for to even think about them. It wasn't because Fuu didn't care. She just decided to rid herself of the previous doubt she held towards Kiyoshi. Frankly, it was a load off her chest. She was able to buy a new shop and she was swimming in money. Everything was going right and the future was something she didn't have to worry about. Also, she had a new house to herself. Thinking about how happy she was was putting her to sleep as she layed in the darkness of her home. _**Thump!**_ A loud noise came out of nowhere. It was coming from down stairs. Someone was definitetly in the house.

She layed down and thought of what she should do next. She thought of every possible situation that could happen. Either, she could let the intruder most likely steal her stuff and possibly kill her or she could go downstairs, hide and get the jump on the person. The latter was definitely the way to go. She'll be damned if she let anybody steal the things she has worked so hard for.

Fuu quickly grabbed her pink knife from under her pillow and crept towards and down the stairs. As her feet touched the last step a shadow passed right by her, not even five feet away. From the shape of the shadow she could tell it was a male in the house. The person had his back to the girl. This was her chance get him. The right hand of the girl slowly removed the blade from the sheath. Next, Fuu moved quickly and quietly the person and put the knife to their neck. The guy froze up right next to the window, his face partially visible in the moonlight.

"Don't move!" Fuu said sternly. The man began turning around slowly.

"Alright, miss. Just relax." As soon as the man turned 60 degrees his hands moved like lightning and hit the knife away from his neck. He was really quick and it took Fuu by surprise. The persons face was facing her now and half his face was in the moonlight. But, she stilled recognized him. Before she could say his name he was already out the door.

"Kenshiro!" She shouted.

She got up and started running after him. It was extremely hard to keep up with him. Kenshiro was busting corners and jumping over crates like they were nothing. He couldn't lose Fuu. She was persistent. The drunkards of the night were all wondering what the hell the chase was about. It was killing there buzz. Eventually, Kenshiro ran into a dead end. There was a wall in front of him. A wall that was way too high for him to jump over. _Shit. I'm screwed!_ Ten seconds later Fuu was at that same dead end gasping for air and staring angrily at him. She was pissed.

"Huh. Fuu what are you doing here? Actually, can you do me a huge favor? Can you say I was with you this whole night? Somebody is looking for me."

"WHAT THE HELL?! That somebody is me, you little shit! Why the hell did you break into my house?!" Fuu was trying not to be loud and attract the attention of all of Edo.

Kenshiro stared at her in disbelief. "That was your house? I'm so sorry. I didn't know you lived there. If I'd known I wouldn't have broke in. You're family after all. I thought you lived at the shop… the origina shopl." Kenshiro was really calm about the situation.

"I don't live there anymore. Listen, I won't tell anybody about this if you come with me. If your father knew about this…"

At the mention of his father Kenshiro's face distorted incredibly. In fact, it angered him greatly to even think about Kiyoshi. Nonetheless, Kenshiro followed Fuu back to her place. He felt like he was going to get the worst, longest, most annoying lecture of his life soon.

Kenshiro took a seat on the ground while Fuu made tea. He took in his surroundings and realized if he hadn't been caught that he really would've taken some stuff. A lot of these things could go for a good price in the black market. Fuu walked to him and gave him a cup. Kenshiro sipped the tea slowly. It was way to hot to gulp down. He hated overly hot things.

"So why did you decide to break into a house? You must have a good excuse." Fuu asked.

"Because I needed money, big houses like yours always tend to have pricey things. Not to my surprise I was right. Look at all this stuff."

"Isn't that why you have your dad?" Fuu said.

Kenshiro sighed "The asshole ran away." He said bluntly. "I need some way to get money and food. Since, nobody would hire me stealing seemed like a great idea."

Fuu stopped drinking her tea. What the hell did he mean? Just a month ago Kiyoshi said he had a good paying job and he didn't need her help. So why the hell would he run away. It makes no sense at all. It didn't make sense to the point that she thought he was lying for a second. Lying to her wouldn't make sense either because she could easily go to his house and find his father. Kenshiro wasn't lying.

"Why did he run away. He told me he had a job and you guys were fine without my help. Kiyoshi said the pay was great."

"He told you he had a job? He's worse than I thought. He lied to you. The only reason the pay was great was because he was getting his money from gambling. Kiyoshi started gambling and was making good money doing it too. Until, he got involved with the wrong people. One night he was gambling with some guy. Kiyoshi lost the game and owed the guy a hefty amount of money. But, he didn't have the money to pay the man. Little did he know the man he owed money to was a yakuza. When he found out he begged an infamous loan shark, who has connections to the yakuza, for money. He got the money and payed the yakuza back. But, now he owed the loan shark money. So he ran away and left me with the tab. Now I'm in hiding because of this coward. I didn't know anything about his gambling until after the fact." Kenshiro explained this very calmly. Fuu noticed he was calling his father by his actual name now. He must hate him for this.

He was in a bad situation all because of his father. How can you do that to your own son. Fuu could relate to how he was feeling. When she was just a toddler her father left her with her mother to go into hiding. Fuu hated her father most of her life because of that. It wasn't until later that she learned the real reason of his departure and she forgave him. What Kiyoshi did, though, was unforgiveable. The least he could've done was take Kenshiro with him. What coward. Now, fuu had to help Kenshiro with this problem.

"You could stay with me, Kenshiro. This way you could stay off the streets and lay low. Soon enough I'm pretty that loan shark will stop looking for you. You won't have to pay me anything now or later. I just ask that you don't break into people's houses anymore. Agree?"

"Hell ya! Thanks you're a life saver! I swear this world is full of untrustworthy people. People that will stab you in the back at a moments notice even if they're related to you by blood. How fucked up is that?"

"Listen, in this world you will always come across people like that. The only thing you could do is move on. Life will throw its joys and tragedies at you. If you ever feel like giving up on life just remember the joys you've had with the people you've met along the way and you will find the meaning in life. That's what I've learned in my twenty-two years of living."

Kenshiro was listening intently to Fuu. In his head Kenshiro evaluated what she just said and realized she wasn't speaking total crap like a lot of other people. Everything she said related to him. It's true he's been through so much in the past months. With death of his mother and his father abandoning him everything seemed to be going to hell for him. But, all he did was remember the good times he had with them and his depression was gone. However, he still didn't know the meaning to life.

"You sound smart beyond your age, Fuu." Kenshiro laughed.

"Well, going through the stuff I've been through does that to you." Fuu also laughed.

The next day, Kenshiro was sitting the back of the when he heard a lot of noise. He thought it was just the occasional plate breaking or street fight and shrugged it off. The noise kept progressing. Then, there was loud crashing and he knew something was up. Kenshiro walked to the front of the store to see what all the ruckus was about. He heard a man with a booming voice shouting over and over again.

"Where's the kid?! You better tell me or else this whole place is going to be torn up!" the huge man threw a table at the wall. He was visibly upset.

"I told you there's no kid here, you fool!" Fuu screamed.

"Did… you just call me a fool? I'm Itsumoto the Giant! I'm no fool!" Itsumoto swung his right hand and struck Fuu to the ground.

Kenshiro saw Itsumoto hit Fuu. He wasn't going to let that go. Kenshiro suddenly ran from the back of the shop and charged the giant. Before the giant could notice him a right hook caught him on the chin. The punch had great power and made him stumble. When he saw who punched him, Itsumoto became embarrassed. He picked up a chair and threw it at Kenshiro. Kenshiro easily dodged the incoming chair. Then Kenshiro countered with a roundhouse to the giants' ribcage. _I guess martial arts really a taught me something after all. _Itsumoto was in great pain and backed away. He looked at Kenshiro and realized this is the kid his boss wanted.

"Hey! You know you owe my boss money, right?" Itsumoto said.

"I don't owe your boss shit! Kiyoshi owes him money, not me!" Kenshiro replied in a unusually deep voice.

"Kenshiro, get out of here! You can't beat this guy." Fuu pleaded.

"I'm not going to leave and let him beat on you. I'm not a coward like Kiyoshi_._"

Kenshiro picked up a nearby kitchen knife. He ran at Itsumoto so he could deliver the finishing blow. However, before he could stab the giant a knife flew into his own midsection. Kenshiro immediately fell flat on his face. He was shouting in pain. When Fuu looked in direction of where the knife came from she saw Yumi. Yumi was standing there coldly looking at Kenshiro.

"Yumi, the boss doesn't want him dead, y'know." Itsumoto had recovered from the kick.

"Don't worry I didn't hit any of his vitals. He'll be okay." She said coolly.

"Yumi, what are doing?" Fuu asked

"Sorry, employer. He was about to kill my brother. What did you want me to do? Then again I was the one that told him that Kenshiro was here. Haha. The boss, Itsumoto is talking about is our father. His name is Akira. You what they say blood is thicker than water." Yumi said with a grin.

"Let's get going to Osaka, Yumi, before Pops gets impatient. This kid can be a strong servant." Itsumoto swung Kenshiro over his back and started walking out. Kenshiro couldn't even defend himself. The pain for being stabbed knocked him out.

Fuu herself could barely do anything about it because she was still dazed from being hit my Itsumoto. All she could do was watch them walk away. _I'll get him back. First, I got to find out where does two are._

"And here I thought you would be leading the easy life. I gotta hand it to you though seems like you grew some balls." Mugen remarked. "So we have to go all the way to Osaka to get this Kenshiro person back. Sounds easy. That Yumi girl sounds like my type of chick.

"God, can please grow up Mugen. This is really important to me." Fuu sighed.

Jin got up from his seat. He looked very serious. "Let's go. Kidnapping is dishonorable." He said.

"That's the spirit, Jin!" Fuu was now excited.

"Oh man. Here we go. But, I guess I'm going to get to fight, so, it's all worth it." Mugen laughed.

**Authors Comment: Sorry, this took so long to put up. School started again so I don't have much time to write. Anyways this ends the 6 year gap chapters. The trio's now in search of Kenshiro. Like always reviews are appreciated. =) **


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